#InternetRevolution

HOW THE WEB WILL CHANGE IN 2027

Before we deep dive into all the exciting innovation that you will experience on the Internet in 10 years, let’s clarify that the Internet and the Web are not the same thing. The Internet is a NETWORK, and the advances in Internet use will involve network-related innovations (5G, pervasive networks, IPv6)[1]. The WEB is the content served over the Internet. In newb-speak, it’s the websites. In this article I shall focus on the changes in the WEB that will occur within 10 years.

Let’s envision 2027. The number of mobile users of the Internet is steadily growing and will exceed the desktops users[2]. Web designers will need to start focusing on the mobile version first and optimize for the desktop later. IoT, wearable technologies and self-driving cars will create demand for a wider range of target devices, so it’s safe to assume that new website platforms will be developed to support new devices.

The future of the Web is linked to the trends in cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence and nanotechnology. The next decade will see the boom of the next-generation Web 3.0 and the golden age of the Cloud.

Web 3.0

When Web 2.0 became the standard in the 2000s it allowed users to generat their own content. An example of this feature is when you comment on a photo in Facebook. It dynamically updates HTML code of the website.

What’s the next design practice that will enhance in websites? Imagine a website that KNOWS you. A web that is essentially unique for every user. Web 3.0 is often called the ‘semantic web’. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) identified the future web as a ‘web of data’[3]. This means that the data across different websites, devices and vendors will be synchronized using common frameworks and databases. The search engines will become more sophisticated using A.I. and deep learning. This means that instead of scanning web pages for your keywords the search engines will understand the semantics and context of your search request.

‘Cloud’ as a New Synonym for the Internet

The consumer market has only scratched the surface of Cloudization. The next-gen Internet will be a cloud itself. Moreover, to keep up with increasing cloudization, hardware will have to change. The change in hardware components will be a result of Moore’s Law coming to its end.

The number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit has become more difficult due to high costs associated with it and laws of physics[4]. Computers will have to be revolutionized in order to keep improving. The easiest way to solve this is to fundamentally change the way we use computers – literally move the desktops to the CLOUD.

In 2017, inspired by virtualization and cloud technologies, I launched my tech startup Heraldic and released a new Desktop-as-a-Service web app called MEA (Mise En Abyme Cloud Computers). Using the old ‘mainframe’ approach with modern UX design, MEA streams virtual cloud desktops to the end user’s web browser. To the end user MEA is a computer within a computer. This phenomenon effectively blends the web, the operating system, the hardware and graphics by virtualizing an entire computer system and serving it over a web page. This merger means that MEA brings to life the innovations of the next-gen web including integration between systems and cross-application compatibility. This makes MEA website www.Heraldic.Cloud the world’s first true Web 3.0 website. Hardware- and platform-independence allows the end user to choose their own device to access a cloud desktop. As long as the user’s physical device has an Internet browser the local hardware does not play a big role in the process because all computation/rendering is done on the cloud desktop. The user’s device is merely a screen with I/O devices. This allows to run complex applications on a device that acts as a thin client.

It is predicted[5] that by 2018 ninety percent of technology users will have unlimited and free online cloud storage. This advancement is achieved by the lowering costs of hard drive data storage per gigabyte. This will allow mankind to store and access our files in the secure, vast and free cloud. Much like the email offers unlimited storage sponsored by advertisers.

This trend, paired with the growth of the number of the users of the Internet, created a spike effect in user data creation, more data is being uploaded every day. Provided the global population will reach 7.5 billion people in 2020, the number of Internet users will grow to almost 5 billion[6]. This means that the vast majority of all data ever created will be uploaded over the next few years.

Conclusion

As hardware and the Web are merging together, the dawn of Web 3.0 is inevitably coming. A semantic web is only one side of the next version of the Internet, MEA Cloud is another key modification that makes it possible to blend hardware, operating system, graphics and Web.